El Paso flu cases continue to decrease, Texas one of the hardest hit

El Paso has not been spared from one of the strongest flu seasons in recent years in the nation, and experts are urging people to keep their guard up as the season comes to a end.

"Of course our city has been hit by this major influenza event, but we aren't alone and we aren't out of the woods yet," said Fernando Gonzalez, lead epidemiologist for the El Paso Department of Public Health. "Our city has been affected with 18 deaths, which is the first time our city has had a number that high associated with flu cases in recent history. But thankfully, we are continuing to see the number of cases decrease."

The El Paso area has surpassed the 17 deaths recorded during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.

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One of the main reasons the number of flu-related cases increased this year is because of the type of flu strain that kicked off the season, Gonzalez said.

"This is not an El Paso isolated event," Gonzalez said. "Across the state and nationally, there is a major influenza event. The presence of Type A H1N1, which is the type that appeared in 2009 and converted into a pandemic event, is the type of flu we started the flu season with this year. It is a stronger and more aggressive type, so that is playing a role in why we are having a big number of cases this season nationwide."

As the season has progressed, the number of reported Type A H1N1 cases has started to decrease, while the less severe strain Type B is increasing, Gonzalez said.

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"We are now seeing more Type B virus — which in our experience is less aggressive — cases than Type A H1N1 cases," Gonzalez said. "Fortunately, we are seeing a decrease in the number of overall cases reported, too, but we are still concerned because the number of deaths increased again."

According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, influenza Type A H1N1 has been the most predominant virus strain this season. Last year, the most predominant strains were the less severe influenza Type A H3H2 virus and Type B flu virus.

So far this season, there have been 3,852 reported flu-related cases in the El Paso area compared with about 3,800 flu cases reported last season. There were only five flu-related deaths reported in the El Paso area during the 2012-2013 flu season.

While some counties, like El Paso, keep records of flu cases per year, the flu is not a reportable condition in Texas, Christine Mann, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services, said in an email. Because the flu is not a reportable disease, numbers are not available from state health services to compare the cases each year by counties, Mann said. However, the department does record pediatric flu deaths.

So far this season, there have been 11 pediatric flu deaths in Texas compared with 20 last season, Mann said. In El Paso, there have been no pediatric flu deaths, Gonzalez said.

The Texas Department of State Health Services performs flu surveillances, which includes collection of data of how many flu cases are reported by laboratories and hospitals, to get a general picture of how the flu is hitting the state, Mann said.

Some counties keep the flu surveillances on their websites and update them weekly.

In Dallas County, which has a population of about 2.4 million, there have been 51 flu-related deaths so far this season, according to the data released by Dallas County Health and Human Services.

In Collin County, which has a population of about 782,341, or about 18,000 fewer people than the city of El Paso, there have been 11 flu-related deaths this season, according to the Collin County Health Care Services.

Texas also is one of the two states with the most reported cases of influenza-like illnesses, with more than 1,600 cases reported last week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"We have seen a consistent decline in flu activity over the last several weeks; however, the intensity-level of influenza-like illness is still elevated throughout the state," Mann said.

In El Paso, the number of flu-related cases has declined for four consecutive weeks, Gonzalez said. Last week, 79 new flu-related cases were reported in El Paso, which is down from 153 the previous week and the 220 new cases reported to the department during the last week of February.

"Yes, the number of cases is going down, but we are still stressing the importance of getting the vaccine, because the season is going to be running until May this year," Gonzalez said. "We have at least 10 more weeks of the high circulation of the viruses in our region, so this is a key moment for anyone who has not gotten the vaccine to get it now. The numbers are going down, but the season is not close to being done yet."